Daisuke, Junki win 4th straight Marianas Cup

Japanese beach volleyball pros Junki Hatabe and Daisuke Matsumoto clinched their fourth straight men’s Marianas Cup Pro-Am Beach Volleyball Tournament championship over the weekend at the Fiesta Resort & Spa sand courts.

Hatabe and Matsumoto’s win was the highlight of the 20th Annual Marianas Beach Volleyball Festival. The banner event also saw nine-year veteran and former champ Miyuki Matsumura and newcomer Miki Oyama, also of Japan, battle through the lower bracket to win the top prize in the women’s division.

The overall field included 25 men’s and 15 women’s teams. The Top 15 men’s pairs advanced to Sunday’s elimination rounds.

The teams played pool play matches on Saturday to determine placings on Sunday’s double-elimination bracket.

Hatabe and Matsumoto advanced to the finals undefeated but stumbled against U.S. pro Ty Loomis and his amateur partner Matt Leszczynski in the men’s first finals set, 21-14.

The Japanese duo, which had twice-to-beat advantage going into the finale, recovered just in time and took the deciding set, 15-11.

The reining champs managed an early 7-3 lead and never looked back and eventually won it off a nifty floater by Matsumoto deep in the left corner.

Loomis and Leszczynski settled for runner-up honors and advanced over third place finishers, New Zealand Olympian Kirk Pitman and Guam beach volleyball national team member Dave Rillera, 21-16, in the lower bracket semifinals.

It was sweet revenge for Loomis and Leszczynski after falling to the pair, 14-21, in a tough second round draw.

In addition, 14-year-old Misaki Cramer finished in fourth place with U.S. pro John Carlucci.

In the women’s grouping, third-ranked Matsumura and Oyama won their first two matches on Sunday, but fell to No. 2 seed and eventual runners-up Hiroyo Kaneda and Ashley Watanabe, 24-22.

The latter went on to advance to the finals and held a twice-to-beat advantage on the main stage.

Matsumura and Oyama, meanwhile, bit down and sliced through Kelly Saleck and Momo Matsuyama, 21-6; gashed fourth placers Elizabeth Gridey and Remi Sudo, 21-9; and then knocked off third place finishers Misumi Sakai and Kei Watanabe, 21-12, for another crack at their rivals.

The never-say-die twosome shocked Hiroyo and Watanabe, 21-18, in the first set and went on to pull off the comeback in the deciding set, 15-1.

The scrappy double-act has only been working together for two months, and were naturally delighted with their strong showing.

Both first place teams were awarded prize packages valued at $4,000, which included a $1,200 cash prize along with airfare, provided by Delta Airlines, as well as hotel and meal accommodations to appear in next year’s event, which is set to take place in Guam. The winners also agreed to participate in some media appearances and school visits.

Second place finishers received $900 and brand new LG cell phones from Docomo Pacific; and third placers won $400 and a set of X-mini boom speakers also from Docomo; a multitude of other prizes were also raffled away.

All podium finishers expressed plans of reappearing in the event next year.

FIVB, the Mariana’s Visitor Authority, Delta Airlines, Fiesta and the NMIVA organized the pro-am tournament and related festivities.

Other sponsors included Docomo Pacific, Hyatt Regency Saipan, Pacific Islands Club, Saipan Grand Hotel, Godfather’s Bar, Triple J Super Fresh Market, Blue Bay, Marianas Trekking, J’s Restaurant, Ride CNMI, Gold’s Gym, Mobil, the Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Saipan Tribune, Hertz Rent-A-Car, Marianas Health Services, Spectrum Electric Inc, Island Apparel, Tano Group, United Cape Air, Aon Insurance, “The Beijing Beast” Phil Dalhausser (Olympic gold medalist), Practical Solutions, KSPN, KKMP, Seafix Inc, Miller-Lite Island Flavor, Pepsi, Gatorade, The Visitors Channel, Spicy Thai Noodle, D& Q, Elliot Artwork, Monica’s Gallery, Power 99Top Notch, Tribes Bar, Express Printing, Tropical Blend, Law Offices of William Satterberg Jr., Law Offices of Sean E. Frink, and 360 Revolving Restaurant.

The 2012 Marianas Cup concludes this weekend with the 5th Annual Marianas Kids Beach Volleyball Tournament set this Saturday. More details will be released later this week.